Headlines

  • Rangers To Sign Jordan Lyles
  • Rays, Padres Announce Tommy Pham-Hunter Renfroe Trade
  • Mets Re-Sign Brad Brach
  • Rangers Sign Kyle Gibson
  • Nationals To Re-Sign Howie Kendrick
  • Twins To Sign Alex Avila
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2019-20 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2020
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Alcides Escobar To Join NPB’s Yakult Swallows

By Anthony Franco | October 30, 2019 at 10:36am CDT

Former big league shortstop Alcides Escobar has agreed to a deal with the Yakult Swallos of NPB, the team announced. (Japanese-language link to Sponichi story; h/t Kazuto Yamazaki of Baseball Prospectus, on Twitter.) The longtime Royal saw MLB action every season between 2008 and 2018.

Escobar is most famous for his run in Kansas City, where he logged eight consecutive seasons of 140+ games, including three years in which he entered all 162 contests. Always a below-average hitter, Escobar nevertheless carved out a few solid seasons thanks to his stellar baserunning and defense. In 2014, Escobar put together a .285/.317/.377 slash (93 wRC+) while playing shortstop every day, swiping 31 bags en route to a career-high 3.5 fWAR. That output was instrumental to a Royals’ club that won the AL pennant that year largely on the strength of defense, baserunning, and contact hitting. He wasn’t quite so productive in the Royals’ 2015 World Series-winning effort, although he at least offered durability and stability at shortstop for Ned Yost.

Unfortnately, Escobar’s already-tenuous offense cratered after 2015, and he hovered around replacement level the next three seasons. He departed Kansas City after 2018, signing with the White Sox on a minor-league deal. Escobar was generally solid at Triple-A in the Chicago organization in 2019, slashing .286/.343/.444, although the relationship seemingly ended acrimoniously in August. He didn’t suit up again this year after being released by the Sox.

Set to enter his age-33 season, Escobar still has plenty of time to make a return to the U.S. if he earns his way back. His recent track record hasn’t given much reason to believe he’ll do so, although perhaps his baserunning and glovework could inspire teams to take a look at him as a utility option. First, of course, he’ll have to put up some respectable numbers at the plate at the world’s second-highest level.

Share 0 Retweet 17 Send via email0

Alcides Escobar Transactions

Yankees Interview Chris Fetter, Matt Hobbs For Pitching Coach Vacancy
Main
Latest On Pirates’ Trajectory, GM Search
9 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. BUROH

    1 month ago

    he became a teammate with Nori Aoki again

    Like
    Reply
  2. andrew farelli

    1 month ago

    That’ll be interesting to see how well (or bad) he’ll do in Japan.

    Like
    Reply
  3. Paulie Walnuts

    1 month ago

    Earn his way back? Yeah, because every team needs a shortstop on the wrong side of 30 with a sub-.280 OBP.

    Like
    Reply
  4. rycm131

    1 month ago

    Yakult Swallows are gone b dope dis year

    Like
    Reply
  5. GothamNeedsMe

    1 month ago

    Too immature to comment because of the team name. Best of luck to him, let’s leave it at that.

    Like
    Reply
    • ba2929

      1 month ago

      Immature because of a bird? Weird.

      1 Like
      Reply
  6. WereAllJustGuestsHere

    1 month ago

    Escobar mashed in the 2015 ALCS. He hit in 2015 when it mattered.

    Like
    Reply
  7. sportsguy24/7

    1 month ago

    I don’t get this signing. Escobar is like so many of the Japanese players they already have. He doesn’t hit for power and plays decent defense. That’s about every guy in Japan. I always thought they looked for power hitting corner guys so this is a bit odd.

    Like
    Reply
  8. seth3120

    1 month ago

    Yakult owner said they were going to spend this offseason and maybe even get a little stupid with their spending. So far he’s lived up to the hype

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Rangers To Sign Jordan Lyles

    Rays, Padres Announce Tommy Pham-Hunter Renfroe Trade

    Mets Re-Sign Brad Brach

    Rangers Sign Kyle Gibson

    Nationals To Re-Sign Howie Kendrick

    Twins To Sign Alex Avila

    Yankees Reportedly Prioritizing Gerrit Cole

    Twins To Re-Sign Michael Pineda

    SK Wyverns Posts Lefty Kwang-hyun Kim

    Reds Sign Mike Moustakas

    Brewers Acquire Omar Narvaez

    Mets Acquire Jake Marisnick

    Steve Cohen In Talks To Increase Investment In Mets

    Angels Acquire Dylan Bundy

    Phillies To Sign Zack Wheeler

    Recent

    Brewers, Keon Broxton Agree To Minor League Deal

    Nationals To Sign Kyle Finnegan

    Winter Meetings Previews: Rays, Spending

    MLBTR Poll: Grading The Rays/Padres Trade

    Agency Changes: Ramirez, Langeliers

    AL Notes: Sale, Mariners, Gordon

    KBO’s Doosan Bears To Sign Chris Flexen

    Tigers Sign Jorge Bonifacio To Minor-League Deal

    Latest On Gerrit Cole

    Mets Interested In Rick Porcello

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2019-20 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2020 Arbitration Tracker
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2020
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version